Utah leaders press for test meetings

WASHINGTON (AP) — Utah officials are pressing the federal government to make good on a promise to hold meetings in Utah before settling plans for a non-nuclear explosion to test bunker-buster bombs at the Nevada Test Site.

Utah Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson and Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch said the Defense Threat Reduction Agency promised to explain the explosion, dubbed "Divine Strake," during meetings in northern and southern Utah around mid-December.

But while mid-December is fast approaching, DTRA has not scheduled the meetings, Matheson spokeswoman Alyson Heyrend said Monday.

DTRA spokeswoman Cheri Abdelnour said the agency still planned public information sessions and that details would be released later. She could not give any more specifics.

To help pressure the agency to move forward with the meetings, Matheson and Hatch on Monday released a letter they sent last month to DTRA Director James Tegnelia after they were briefed on the program.

The Utah officials said they wanted to convey their "deep disappointment" that the agency still favored the Nevada site north of Las Vegas for the blast and asked Tegnelia to explain the program to Utahns.